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Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel
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| By Israel Insider staff June 19, 2007 |
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A petition presented by Israeli Professor Aaron Ciechanover, which slams the British plan to boycott Israeli academia, has now been signed by 51 Nobel Prize laureates, with more signatures to come as Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel and the Israeli Foreign Ministry aid the process.
"We, Noble Prize laureates, condemn the UCU's shameful decision to boycott contact and exchange of information with Israeli educators and academic institutions," stated the petition.
The petition condemns Britain's University and College Union's proposed academic boycott on Israel. The petition also slams a boycott against buying Israeli goods proposed by the British National Union of Journalists and UNISON, the largest trade union in the UK.
"Not only do such boycotts encourage the extremists," criticizes the petition, "but they also praise and glorify prejudices."
Ciechanover, who is a professor at Haifa's Technion IIT and himself a Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry, first presented the petition and then turned to friend Elie Wiesel to help collect signatures.
According to Wiesel, the petition has been very successful so far, with many laureates ready to sign, and many signatures expected in the near future. Only one laureate has declined signing the petition.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry will also do its part to rally against the boycott. The ministry intends to reach the media, university campuses and academia via Israeli representative abroad.
Members of the University and College Union (UCU) were set to vote at the end of May on the proposed boycott, which would satisfy Palestinian trade union calls for a "a comprehensive and consistent boycott of all Israeli institutions," reported Ynetnews.
Members were asked to support the view that "passivity or neutrality is unacceptable and criticism of Israel cannot be construed as anti-Semitism."
In response to the proposed boycott, London Mayor Ken Livingstone criticized the action, saying it damaged chances for peace talks.
"Now is not the time for boycotts. Boycotts should only be used as a last resort - when there is no other alternative, such as was the case with South Africa but is not the case here," he said. |
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